Plastics basics revisited
Diana Cassa from Beeton, ON writes:
I’m trying to find information on reusing plastics numbered 2, 4 and 5 and hope you can help direct me. I freeze foods in them like homemade spaghetti sauce in yogurt containers.
Is it OK to freeze these plastics or should this be avoided? Is it OK to place them in the dishwasher? I’ve seen reports that say you should not freeze water bottles, although there are just as many that say this isn’t true. I don’t freeze water bottles — in fact, I don’t buy them at all — but I am wondering if the plastics I do freeze pose problems.
Lindsay writes:
You are not the first to ask about which plastics to use, reuse and recycle. We have tackled such an issue in our summer "Finding Solutions " edition of David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge newsletter . The nuts and bolts of it can be described as "2, 4, 5 keep yourself alive"! Those numbers are the safest to reuse, so check your containers.
From what I’ve researched, freezing is generally okay (I’d still stick with 2, 4, and 5 plastic types) but do not microwave plastics and do not put them in the dishwasher. For some plastic types, like #1, more chemicals are released when they are washed and reused. The good thing is that #1 is highly recyclable.
Tags: containers, freeze, Lindsay, microwave, newsletter, plastics, recycle, reduce, reuse